Bendigo Bank clients give recommendation

ALMOST two thirds of Bendigo Bank customers would recommend the bank to family and friends, a survey has found.

HIGH PRAISE: Two thirds of Bendigo Bank customers would recommend their bank to family or friends.

ALMOST two thirds of Bendigo Bank customers would recommend the bank to family and friends, a survey has found.

The Roy Morgan Research Finance Single Source survey found 63.2 per cent of customers rated Bendigo Bank a 8, 9 or 10 out of 10, placing it ahead of its closest competitor Suncorp on 55.7 per cent.

Among the four major banks, Commonwealth Bank had the largest proportion of customers who are high advocates at 52.6 per cent, followed by NAB 48.4 per cent, ANZ 45.6 per cent and Westpac at 45.5 per cent.

The survey further showed customers who considered their bank as their main financial institution were even more likely to recommend it.

A total of 64.2 per cent of Bendigo Bank’s MFI customers are high advocates, a difference of 1.0 percentage points when compared to overall customers.

Roy Morgan Research industry communications director Norman Morris said more customers of smaller banks are recommending their banks than those of the four major banks.

"This is even more predominant among MFI customers. The strength of word of mouth highlights the importance of having a higher proportion of customers who are satisfied and who consider their bank as their main financial institution," he said.

"CBA is in the strongest position with 82.2% of its customers considering the bank their MFI.

"Second to CBA is NAB, with 73.5% of its customers considering NAB as their MFI.

"Fewer customers of second tier banks however consider the institution as their MFI, the highest level being for Suncorp where 68.4% of its customers considering Suncorp as their MFI.

"The comparatively higher levels of customer satisfaction for the smaller banks show the benefit by having more customers as High Advocates.

"It is also important for banks to identify which of their customers are high advocates, and in particular assess whether their high value customers are recommending their institution."